A website that offers parents information about childhood immunisation has been told to remove claims that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine could be causing autism in some children, as they were misleading.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled that this and other claims on the BabyJabs website (www.babyjabs.co.uk) breached the code of the advertising industry body the Committee of Advertising Practice, which was designed to ensure that advertising did not mislead or harm consumers. The claims must not appear again, it said.

BabyJabs offers a children’s vaccination service providing a choice of single and small combination vaccines in addition to providing information to help parents “plan a personalised immunisation …